Really great news from the gods of WX (imo): http://www.hifitechinc.com/forums/showthread.php?1147-The-next-version-of-Active-Sky&p=5401&viewfull=1#post5401 (http://www.hifitechinc.com/forums/showthread.php?1147-The-next-version-of-Active-Sky&p=5401&viewfull=1#post5401'>%5Burl=http://www.hifitechinc.com/forums/showthread.php?1147-The-next-version-of-Active-Sky&p=5401&viewfull=1#post5401)
I really can't wait for this it all sounds great....what'd all think
Cheers
Steve
Seems we're spoilt for choice with weather engines now, not that long ago there was only HiFi's ActiveSky (AS), now we've also got:
- Real Environment Xtreme (REX)
To be honest it always felt it's weather engine was very much secondary to the textures, I noticed major windshifts at altitude and it just didn't seem as polished as AS2012, however my friend tells me this has been fixed in the latest REX.
- OpusFSX
This seems to be defacto alternative to ActiveSky these days, and although there is much praise for it there are also a lot of people moaning about how it upsets the particular aircraft they like to fly
- Pilot's FS Global Real Weather (FSGRW)
It's expensive as you only get a weather engine and no textures for the same price as the others, but I really like the thinking behind it - keep it simple and don't bombard users with technical options they don't understand. Also has a nice feature where it can depict local weather phenomena, such as building induced turbulence at a particular airport.
- FSrealWX
I only found out about this the other day, it's freeware but I've yet to try it. Nice for those on a budget at any rate.
I don't know if anyone has used any of the above, but if ActiveSky Next (ASN) lives up to the hype ("without compromise" is a heady statement), I'm sure it'll knock the competition in to a cocked hat if it's not priced silly (which seems to be a developing and worrying trend for addons lately), and I'll be eager to get it myself :) Gaining control of precipitation and being able to depict that on a radar is a game changer (especially if they can convince PMDG to integrate it in to their aircraft, their herd of fanboys is likely to go mental), but the lack of icing depiction is something of a let down for us turboprop pilots.
I think HiFi needs to get ASN released soon if they want to maintain their market share, most of their competitors have only become common knowledge in the last 12 months but it would seem they're starting to gain traction in the market place now; I wonder if HiFi has made this announcement to stop people buying competitor products (as most people are unlikely to buy two weather engines in 12 months!), does anyone know how far away a release is likely to be?
Shame about the icing, but this sounds impressive!
From what I gather from the article it is currently in beta... so fingers crossed.
thanks Chris for the comprehensive reply great info.
cheers
SteveP
Just an update on this, Active Sky Next has now been released and a 7 day free trial is available from HiFi at http://www.hifitechinc.com/downloads (http://www.hifitechinc.com/downloads). It's getting pretty decent reviews too.
Going to give that a try for sure.....I like the idea of giving a trail first. Have you tried it yet Chris?
All the best
Steve 1046
To be honest I've been so busy lately (including with Intercity) I've not flown in well over a month, but I am hoping to make up for that over Christmas, as well as getting the Düsseldorf J41s scheduled; I'll not install the trial until I know I can get a few flights in before the 7 day trial period expires.
There's some good feedback on ASN but I'm not sure it will be enough of an improvement over AS2012, Opus or FSGRW to justify buying it, if you already own those products. If you don't own them, then right now ASN is probably the one to get but the marketplace is moving very quickly with Opus promising more updates.
Bagged ASN at a bargain upgrade price. Now just need shifts, wife and boy to allow me a couple of hours playtime!
Quote from: Benjamin Hall on Dec 13, 2013 11:21
Bagged ASN at a bargain upgrade price. Now just need shifts, wife and boy to allow me a couple of hours playtime!
I've had a few flights now with ASN, my first impressions are very good...however on a recent flight using ASN with AS 2012 textures, on finals the aircraft became pretty much unflyable...and it was only because of the superb airmanship of yours truly that we got on terra firma all in one bit ;) . So Ben make sure you reduce the turbulence settings on ASN before you try it out when using it with the Q400. I've also seen on Majestic's forum others are reporting problems with the Q400 and AXN. Let me know how you get on, if you get the chance.
All the best
Steve
Will do Steve. Thanks for the heads up!
This may help those of you with ASN experiencing turbulence issues:
http://www.hifitechinc.com/forums/showthread.php?2066-Compatibility-issue-FSUIPC-4-924-4-925-and-ASN (http://www.hifitechinc.com/forums/showthread.php?2066-Compatibility-issue-FSUIPC-4-924-4-925-and-ASN)
QuoteIt has come to our attention that the new FSUIPC 4.924 and 4.925 builds are causing issues with ASN. Specifically, our control of wind, turbulence and potentially other items are affected, and you may experience wind shifts, lack of turbulence and/or other anomalies.
FSUIPC v4.926 has been released which resolves these issues. All FSUIPC users should update to 4.926 (or later) to avoid such problems.
Also there's been assistance from Majestic regarding turbulence with ASN too:
http://majesticsoftware.com/forums/discussion/comment/6513#Comment_6513 (http://majesticsoftware.com/forums/discussion/comment/6513#Comment_6513)
QuoteFor the wind turbulence, set light, and for cloud turbulence, set light.
ENSURE IN THE SETTINGS OPTION UNDER THE WEATHER TAB, THAT RATE OF CHANGE IS SET TO NONE!!! THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!